Should I not wheelie so much?

grayracer513

Yes, if done with a blip of the throttle to reduce the load, or at a sufficiently low RPM.

The typical motorcycle trans is designed to be a non synchronized unit, and to change from one speed to another without the benefit of the gear speeds being matched up. They are designed to endure this up to a certain practical level, and the use or non-use of the clutch matters only insofar as it bears on the amount of load placed on the transmission during the gear change. Dragging the two currently engaged gears apart under a heavy load will tend to round over the locking lugs, as will having the lugs of the gear being changed into come into contact with each other before they completely mesh, or under an excessive impact.

Exactly where the point of the load being excessive is is somewhat nebulous and hard to define, but I shift with no clutch quite often under a variety of conditions, and I have historically had less transmission trouble than almost anyone I know.

A clean, quick shift under a reduced load is the healthiest thing for the gearbox, regardless of whether the clutch is used or not.

Come to englnad and i will show you a bike that bent the selector thats used for changing from 4th to 5th gear. This happened while on the back wheel. Our local yamaha specialist has repaired a number of bikes with this exact problem and says its caused by clutchless changes from 4th - 5th.

Another unsupported gratuitous assertion. You have no idea when or how that fork was bent. The fact is that such things normally occur over time rather than due to a single incident.

Lennie

sausage boy

Less open roads = more changes in speed = more gear changes = more wear.

I'm from England and i have rode and raced over there, but now i live in Colorado. i can see both points of view, people in England do ride different to over here, as you do spend at least 40%-60% of your ride on the paved road and almost all of my English friends who i ride with will wheelie there bikes as soon as we get onto the paved road, some of them for mile after mile. i have seen some strange engine failures over there that i have never seen or experienced over here, i switched from KTM to riding WR's in 2005 and i have never had 1 single problem with any of my WR's, (i still have my 05 and i still love riding that bike).

i don't wheelie for fun, i only loft the front wheel to clear obstacles, so this is just my opinion.. but i would say that the people who i have seen crunching the gears from 2nd all the way to 5th (during a wheelie) could possibly have a problem, that said they would probably also have a problem crunching the gears anyway. if you are smooth on your transmission I'm sure it will last forever..

bluebike1999

shit, i cant not do monos / wheelies....i have 30 000 + kays on my 400 and its been mono'd everyday, every ride no gearbox issues at all....1st through to 5th day after day

i now have an 07 450 , same thing, its all about how much mechanical sympathy you have... i grew up on a farm where if you wer ecaught flogging the machinery, you got a boot in the arse, and i am programmed to be kind to machinery, on one wheel or two...

as for front tyres...i chop em up at a terrible rate seeing they hit the ground stopped at over 120kph day after day... its why i cant afford to keep S12's up to it...

sausage boy

shit, i cant not do monos / wheelies....i have 30 000 + kays on my 400 and its been mono'd everyday, every ride no gearbox issues at all....1st through to 5th day after day

i now have an 07 450 , same thing, its all about how much mechanical sympathy you have... i grew up on a farm where if you wer ecaught flogging the machinery, you got a boot in the arse, and i am programmed to be kind to machinery, on one wheel or two...

as for front tyres...i chop em up at a terrible rate seeing they hit the ground stopped at over 120kph day after day... its why i cant afford to keep S12's up to it...

ncampion

I have a Rekluse clutch on my bike and therefore every shift is "clutchless" If done right as described above by unloading the gears, both upshifts and downshits can be done without the clutch with no additional stress on the gearbox.

Bushdog

Rubbish! popping a mono wont do this. 5th gear could be weaker if you compare it to an overdrive 5th gear in a car. cars can blow top gear if towing heavy loads for long periods - but pulling a humble mono on a bike dont do it. your friend should look at how else he treats his bike